F (USPS156-140) Vol. 132, Number 5 DeWitt, AR 72042 • 16 Pages • 2 Sections • 75 cents
AROUND THE COUNTY
aith Baptist Holds Big Buck Banquet
Stories and Photos on Page B1
Serving Arkansas k County, Arkansas k Since 1882 Thursday, January 30, 2014
Battling Acanthamoeba
HOME BUDGETING SKILLS
First Baptist Church is hosting a Home Budgeting Skills program that will be presented by Dale Bennett. Everyone is invited to come. First Baptist Church is located at 312 North May St. in DeWitt.
DES AWARDS ASSEMBLY
The DeWitt Elementary School awards assembly will be held February 5. K – 1 will be presented from 8:30 - 9:00, 2 – 3 will be presented from 9:10 - 9:40 and 4 – 5 will be presented from 9:50- 10:30.
DES PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
DeWitt Elementary School Parent Teacher Conferences will be held February 13 from 2-7 p.m. Students will be dismissed early.
DHS CLASS OF ‘74 REUNION
The 1974 class of DeWitt High School will have a 40 year reunion meeting on February 1, 2014 at PCCUA – DeWitt in the student center. The student center is located on the east end of the building. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. Please contact Gracie Jemerson at graciemae52@yahoo. com or text 870-456-8116 with questions and comments.
DEWITT ERA-ENTERPRISE RATE CHANGES FOR 2014
Effective IMMEDIATELY, the DeWitt Era-Enterprises newspaper rates have gone up to $23.50 for in-county and $30 for anywhere outside of Arkansas County. Legal rates are now $0.25 a word, also effective immediately. Obituaries will continue to be free for all obituaries with less than 300 words. Call for prices on anything over 300 words. Also, the DeWitt EraEnterprise will ONLY re-run ads that have a misspelling or incorrect information.
Tiffani Burns with her son Justin Ross, who suffers from Acanthamoeba, speak with Marine Glisovic from KATV Channel 7 News about his illness and the effects it’s had on their lives. (photo by Marilyn Rousseau)
By Valenya Franks A simple case of pink eye that just wouldn’t go away turned out to be something far worse for seven-year-old Justin Ross. After several days of battling what was believed to be pink eye, an infection that usually clears up within 24 hours of treatment, Justin’s doctor diagnosed him with Epidemic Kerato Conjunctivitis. However, after several weeks of treatment, his eye was not getting any better. His mother, Tiffani Burns, decided to do a little research herself. She came across an amoeba virus of the cornea which matched all of Justin’s symptoms. She took him to the cornea specialist in Little Rock at Baptist Health, and her fears were confirmed. Justin was diagnosed with Acanthamoeba. Acanthamoeba is a microscopic free-living amoeba that causes severe infections of the eye, skin and central
nervous system. Twelveyear-old Kali Hardig was infected with an amoeba from the same strand last year that lead to a severe case of meningitis. This free-living single-cell organism is considered an animal, and it has buried itself in Justin’s eye and is slowly eating away at his cornea. Since the amoeba is an animal and not a bacteria, it cannot be killed by antibiotics. Strangely enough, the infection is treated with swimming pool cleaner. Bleach and Baquacil drops are put into his eye up to 6 times a day, a process that is very painful. Along with the drops, Justin must go through oral chemo therapy which makes him very sick. Due to the illness caused by the oral chemo and pain in his eye, which was especially increased in fluorescent lighting, Justin has been force to stay home from school. This treatment was working,
but then suddenly the ex- ern Hospital. His eye has treme pain was back. After a reached a point that it is out visit to a specialist in Dallas, of the comfort zone for the Justin was prescribed a spe- specialist in Little Rock. cial eye drop only available in New Zealand along with STORY CONTINUED ON his current treatments and PAGE 5A ► told that treatment would need to continue for a minimum of 6 months. They were also informed that the specialist wanted Justin to return to Dallas every four weeks for a check up. Justin and his mother will be returning to Dallas soon to Due to pain caused by fluorescent lighting, see a cornea Justin is sometimes forced to wear sunglassspecialist at es. (photo by Charlotte Purdy) Southwest-
Best of DeWitt: Good Neighbor of the Year
Pam Castaneda has been chosen as the Best of DeWitt’s “Good Neighbor of the Year.” Pam is a graduate of DeWitt High School
and has been employed by Arkansas County Bank for over 40 years. She is a member of Christway Baptist Church. She is married to Eduardo Castaneda and has one son, Joseph Schimmel of Stuttgart. Dictionar y.com lists one definition of neighbor as “a person who shows kindliness or helpfulness toward his or her fellow humans: to be a neighbor to someone in distress.” The definition could have been shortened to read “Pam.” Pam is a very caring person.
Words are not adequate to describe her devotion to her family, church, friends and community. For example, suppose you have a death in your family, and you hear a knock at the door. There is Pam. She is not only bearing condolences for your loss, but probably a batch of cookies. She is there to help you through the difficult times and to celebrate with you in the good times. Pam keeps a check on her neighbors and aging members of her family. Her visits brighten their day. Pam serves Arkansas County Bank in the Customer Service Department. She does not limit herself to “a job description.” She plays a big part in the annual Veteran’s Day Celebration, Christmas
Open House, Holiday Food Drive, organizing Bank employees for the annual Spring Fling at the hospital, cooking lunch for the Chamber of Commerce, “MAC” Club activities, and any other function in which the bank is participating. She cares for her fellow workers as if they are part of her family. It cannot go unmentioned that Pam is a very good cook. She learned from one of the best, her mom – Mrs. Ruth Isom. One of her favorite times is family gatherings, which include her brother and sisters. There is no way to list all of the good deeds Pam does because they are done in a quiet manner since she does not want to bring attention to herself.
DeWitt Chamber of Commerce
Best of DeWitt Awards Banquet January 30, 2014 Banquet 6:30 p.m. at DeWitt High School Tickets are $15